Team Am Pro Factory Yamaha's Barry Hawk finally answered the "Who can beat Juha Salminen" question with a gritty come-from-behind win at the Pirelli Big Buck GNCC in South Carolina, round four of the Suzuki Grand National Cross Country Series.
Hawk, of Smithfield, Pennsylvania, used his legendary determination to top a pack of overseas talent ‰ÛÒ FMF Suzuki's Australian Glenn Kearney rallied to second, Salminen, from Finland, was third on his KTM, and another Australian, Shane Watts, was fourth. Ohio's Robbie Jenks rounded out the top five.
"There were so many people in the woods cheering today," said Hawk. "It helped.
I didn't get a very good start, and I just pushed and pushed until I got to the front. I finally feel like I'm back to where I ended last year."
Hawk won the final three races of 2005, but he has struggled early this year while Salminen, the ten-time World Enduro Champion from Finland, has dominated. But at the Big Buck, Hawk battled with New Jersey's Mike Lafferty and Salminen for the first two hours of the three-hour race. Then Lafferty crashed hard and had to drop out of the race, leaving the showdown between Hawk and Salminen. They battled hard, but Hawk made his move in a deep mud bog, while Salminen crashed.
This opened the door for Kearney to slide into second, while Watts and Salminen battled down to the finish for third. Salminen hung on to preserve his series points lead.
"Now I just need to keep this going and get some wins so I can get back in the points hunt," said Hawk, who admitted a few small bike tweaks went a long way to regaining his old form.
"The race went really well and I was pleased that I was able to come back from such a poor start". said Kearney "But I may have exerted myself too much as I was cramping really badly on the podium and I even had to vomit off the side because I was just totally done! These races really take a toll on you that‰Ûªs for sure!"
Watts, who has recently found found form and has carded some good results was dispointed with his fourth overall.
"That was enjoyable to have a great start to the race and to be apart of the lead pack. I was just trying to ride smooth and smart, and be consistent but I just kept making too many mistakes. I suffered a few crashes during the middle part of the race which is not what I wanted, although I was able to catch back up to the leaders each time. On the lap I just tried to bring it home for a magnificent second place but I made that dumb mistake and crashed. Talk about being disappointed!",
"Other than that I'm pretty happy that I was able to still run the lead pace for most of the race considering that unfortunately it is impossible for my body to function at the level it used to a few years ago." said the former champion.
Lafferty will be out for a few weeks, as his crash resulted in a broken collarbone.
